Life Time Gets Approval on First California Club

Life Time Fitness, Chanhassen, MN, is in the planning stages to open its first club in California, according to a report.

The Orange County Register reported earlier this month that a planning commission in Laguna Niguel, CA, has approved construction of a 128,000-square-foot Life Time club in a vacant site that was once home to the city’s expo center. Officials expect construction to begin at the end of this summer, the newspaper reported. The project will include a three-story fitness center and a four-story parking garage.

Karen Jayne Greenwood, senior public relations manager for Life Time Fitness, says the company is looking at numerous markets across the country, including Orange County.

“Life Time is always performing due diligence in areas we believe would benefit both our company and the community should a Healthy Way of Life destination be built in that market,” Greenwood wrote in an email to Club Industry. “At this time, of course, we are looking at areas like Orange County. Has anything been finalized? No. Until then, we can all California dream.”

Life Time is developing a $40 million project in West Harrison, NY, despite the discovery of mild contamination levels on the property.

Life Time reported clubs in 20 states at the end of last year. This year, Life Time opened a club in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, Ontario, the company’s first club in Canada. It also opened a new club in Tulsa, OK, and held its 100th grand opening for a new club in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, GA. In addition to those openings, Life Time acquired Atlanta’s Racquet Club of the South in February.